To New York
by Dixie Vampire
Summary: Hotch is moving to New York and joining the White Collar Crimes Unit to make Hailey happy, and she is the only one that's happy. Even Peter Burke, Hotch's new team leader can see Hotch was never meant to be in White Collar.
1. Chapter 1

Authors Note: ok we're going to pretend that Hotch actually had to leave and join the white collar division so Haileys still alive and all that jazz. If you can flow with Hotch sleeping with Reid you can imagine this *shudders*. I will also give you a heads up, I hate Hailey Hotchner with a passion and that may affect how I write her character so I apologize in advance if she's OOC. So anyway on with the story.

* * *

"Aaron, are you ok?" Hailey asked, reached a hand out to her husband's shoulder. Hotch quickly put a smile on his face and looked back to her.

"I'm fine," He said with a cheery voice. Hailey grinned from ear to ear as she picked up the next box.

"I still can't believe we're moving to New York! This is going to be so exciting!" Hailey said and carried the box out to the moving van. The second her eyes were off of him Aarons smile disappeared.

"Daddy's lying," Jack said. Aaron's heart leapt as he turned to see his son had come from his room with a box in his hand.

"No I'm not buddy, Daddy's just going to miss his friends. Don't tell Mommy ok? I don't want to make her sad too" Aaron asked as he knelt down in front of his six year old son, whom was a pretty good profiler in his own respect.

"Ok, Daddy," Jack said.

"Do you need any help with that?" Aaron asked. Jack shook his head.

"Nope I got it," Jack answered and walked towards the door.

"You're so strong," Aaron said and grabbed a box himself.

"There's someone here to see you Aaron," Hailey said in a threatening stern voice. She gave him a fierce look and her arms crossed over her chest.

"Who?" Aaron asked, truly curious as to who could visit him and put that look on her face.

"The team!" She snapped at him. It physically hurt Aaron to resist the impulse to roll his eyes.

"Come on Hailey, It's really not necessary to talk about them like that, they are my friends!" Aaron replied. Anger threatened to rip through his 'happy' façade but he held it back as best he could.

"They most likely just want to say good bye, Did you even invite them in?" Aaron asked.

"And I'm the bad guy again!" Hailey snapped. Aaron hung his head and looked at the box in his arms.

"I'll get rid of them," Aaron said and walked outside.

Aaron gave his first genuine smile in days at the sight of his team. Morgan, Prentiss, JJ, Reid, Garcia, and Rossi were standing in the driveway next to the moving van. Rossi had been called out of retirement to rejoin the team and Morgan had been made team leader.

"What are you all doing here?" Aaron asked.

"Well we were going to help you pack but I suddenly think She-wolf won't allow it," Morgan said, stepping forward and taking the box from Hotch. Morgan put the box into the van. Jack was at the edge of the van on his tip toes trying to put his box in.

"She thinks you all are going to get me to change my mind," Hotch said as he picked Jack up and set him in the van. Jack walked down into the truck and set his box down.

"Well we know that's not happening," Morgan said as Jack came back and sat on the edge of the truck.  
"So we're here to say Good bye and give you good bye gifts," Garcia said and stepped aside. There was a giant vibrant gift box behind her.

"You didn't have to Garcia," Hotch said as she handed it to him.

"Now I know you are going into White Collar Crimes which is an absolute snooze fest so you have everything in there to make your own super fun zone in one of your drawers," She said.

"Thank you Garcia," Hotch said and gave her a hug.

"I'm going to miss you and your hard work and no play attitude, it made all the time you did smile and play that much more special! And you always look so sharp in your suits, It's just not going to be the same," Garcia said as she hugged him tightly.

"I'm going to be lost without you too Garcia," Hotch told her.

"Hey, if you ever need super-fast help with your cases, call me Strauss will never know," Garcia told him.

"I just might," Hotch smiled. JJ stepped up and handed Hotch an envelope.

"None of the rest of us were quite as creative as Garcia about know what to get you for gifts but we wanted to make sure you got a chance to see New York City so we all chipped in to get you gift certificates for restaurants, Yankee stadium season tickets, and all kinds of fun stuff for you to do now that you'll have a 9-5 life. You should enjoy it," JJ said.

"Thank you all so much," Hotch said and looked to each of them.

"Don't ever hesitate to call any of us, man. You can use us as a sounding board or anything. And you better believe now that I have a couch to sleep on in New York I will be visiting," Morgan said as he stepped up to Hotch and held out his hand. Hotch grinned.

"Any time, that goes for all of you," Hotch shook Morgan's hand and Morgan pulled him into a hug.

"I'm gonna miss you man," Morgan said.

"You're going to be a great Unit Chief and don't let Strauss wear you down," Hotch told him. Morgan nodded and stepped back from Hotch.

Hotch got a hug from each member of his team even Rossi.

"It sucks that I'm coming out of retirement just in time for you to leave. We had some great times working together!" Rossi said. Hotch shrugged.

"Yes we did," Hotch said.

"Aaron!" Hailey called 'sweetly' from the front door. Everyone looked up to her and back to Hotch.

"And there's our queue to leave, Good Luck Hotch," Morgan said and shook Aaron's hand again. Hotch nodded, exchanged final good byes, and even got in another hug from Garcia before his team left. Hotch took a deep breath and composed himself as he picked up the box Garcia had given him. He slid it into the truck. He knew Garcia, he knew if anything could break down his walls, and make him reveal how pissed he actually was about all this, it would be whatever was in that box. He just couldn't open it yet. He decided to wait until he got to New York and to open it away from Hailey. As for the envelope he was going to put that in his brief case.

"Alright let's get the rest of this packed up," Hotch said and forced another smile. Jack didn't smile back. Hotch just helped him down and went inside to finish everything up.


	2. Chapter 2

I had rather have a fool to make me merry than an experience to make me sad and have to travel for it too!

**William Shakespeare**

* * *

Neal tapped his pen against his chin as he looked around the floor. It was quiet. Peter wasn't there, Neal wasn't sure where he was. Jones was staring into his computer. Diana was reading a case file.

"I'm Bored!" Neal shouted to his team mates.

"Sorry Neal, I forgot your ball of yarn at home," Diana replied. Jones laughed though he didn't look up from his screen.

"Mrrrooowww!" Neal meowed at her and hissed.

"You'll have entertainment soon enough Caffery, we're getting a new team mate today," Diana said. Neal perked up.

"A new agent?" Neal asked.

"Yep, Agent Hotchner. He's never been in white collar so this will be interesting," Jones said. Neal smiled to himself and turned to door.

"When's he supposed to get here?" Neal asked.

"Uhm…any minute," Diana answered.

Neal perked up when he heard the elevator ding.

"Don't screw with his head too much Caffery," Jones said. Neal smiled back at Jones before looking out to the elevator. A tall black haired man stepped out of the elevator, he was dressed in a nice suit and was carrying a bag, a suit case, and a gift wrapped box.

"Damnit not him, he's dressed too nice," Neal said. The man came through the doors and seemed confused.

"Can I help you?" Neal asked.

"Uhm…Yes, I am supposed to meet Agent Burke," He said.

"Is the gift for him, did El send it?" Neal asked grinning at the thought of Peter being delivered an embarrassingly wrapped gift.

"Oh…no this is a parting gift from my old team, I didn't want to open it until I got to my new desk," He said.

"So you _are_ Agent Hotchner," Neal said. He nodded. Neal smiled and got to his feet.

"Welcome to White Collar crimes," Neal said holding out his hand. Hotch rearranged the box in his arms and shook his hand.

"Are you Agent Burke?" Hotch asked. Neal was about to answer but someone came up behind Hotch and put their hands on his shoulders.

"He absolutely is not," It was Peter.

"C'mon, we can talk in my office,' Peter said and led Hotch up to his office.

Once the door was closed Aaron set the box and his bags down.

"Sorry about him, that's Neal and he's not an agent," Peter told him.

"Oh I knew he wasn't an agent, he's a criminal consultant," Hotch said. Peter looked shocked.

"So you know Neal," Peter said. Hotch shook his head.

"No," Hotch answered.

"Then how did you know he was a criminal consultant?" Peter asked.

"He doesn't carry himself like an agent. He's playful in a way I would say gets him into a lot of trouble. His desk is in direct eye line of your desk so you're his keeper, all you have to do is glance up to make sure he's behaving, and I know he's a very talented thief because when you stepped up to me he managed to slip my watch off my wrist while I was distracted," Hotch profiled the conman.

"He what?" Peter asked.

"It's alright, I got it back," Hotch said, lifting his hand to show Peter the unhooked watch. Hotch put it back on as Peter walked to the door.

"Excuse me," Peter said and opened his door.

"Neal!" Peter snapped. Neal whipped around and gave him a sheepish grin.

"Get up here!" Peter told him. Neal ducked his head down as he got up and headed for the office.

"You stole his watch?" Peter asked as Neal stepped in. Neal's mouth dropped as he motioned between them

"He stole it back! I was just playing with the new guy!" Neal said. Peter gave Neal a stern look.

"I'm Sorry Agent Hotchner," Neal said.

"It's alright, I remember being a proby, just never thought I would be one again," Hotch said.

"Yeah, I couldn't change departments," Peter said as he walked back around to his desk. Neal looked Hotch up and down and turned to Peter.

"Peter, why can't you wear suits like this? If he can afford it, you can afford it," Neal replied.

"Hey I like my suits! Alright!" Peter said. Neal rolled his eyes and reached out to Hotch's collar. Hotch shied away from him. Neal held up his hands.

"I just want to see the tag," Neal said. Hotch allowed it.

"Really?" Neal asked as he read the label.

"You must just be a guy that makes any suit look good," Neal replied.

"Neal!" Peter snapped. Hotch turned to Neal and looked him up and down.

"Opposed to the man wearing a suit that makes any _man_ look good," Hotch replied. Peter laughed and Neal raised an eyebrow.

"It's a Devore, yes? Very high end and vintage but I could guarantee you didn't pay a cent for it," Hotch said. Neal didn't really know how to react and looked to Peter.

"Oh having a profiler on the team is going to be fun," Peter smiled.

"A profiler?" Neal asked.

"I just transferred from the Behavioral Analysis Unit," Hotch told him.

"Which means he can read us all like a book, even you," Peter said.

"Well we are taught as profilers not to profile your team mates but it comes in handy every now and then just to remind people that I can," Hotch replied.

"And you were right, this is Neal Caffery, he's a bond forger because that's all we can prove. He is also an art thief-," Peter started.

"Allegedly!" Neal replied.

"And escape artist. You can get to know him better later, Neal get out." Peter said to his partner. Neal rolled his eyes and left the office.

"Alright, I'm not going to lie to you Agent Hotchner, my boss wants me to keep a close eye on you. To make sure you adapt ok, I know you transferred with the intent to lead a task force eventually and I'm supposed to show you the ropes. I will be reporting your progress to Hughes," Peter told him.

"Thank you I appreciate the honesty. If that's all, I'd like to get settled in," Hotch said.

"Absolutely, your desk is the empty one next to Neal's," Peter told him.

"Thank you," Hotch said and gathered his stuff again. Peter opened the door for him and Hotch walked down to his desk.

Hotch set everything down and took a seat. Neals curiosity made him watch.

"What's with the duffle bag?" Neal asked. Hotch looked up at him.

"It's my go-bag," Hotch answered,

"Go-bag?" Neal asked.

"Yeah Caffery, this is where you count your blessings that you work in a field office. Agents in Quantico are required to keep a bag handy of their clothes and things they need in case they have to travel for a few days to catch a crook," Jones said from his desk.

"Unsub," Hotch said, more to himself than anything.

"What?" Neal asked. Hotch shook his head.

"Nothing, bringing a go-bag is just habit,"Hotch replied.

"Don't worry about it man, keep it here. You never know when Caffery's going to have a hair brained idea that will get your clothes ruined or lost," Jones said. Neal 's jaw dropped as he looked to Jones.

"When?" Neal asked.

"How about the time Peter came back to the office in a set of army fatigues?" Jones asked.

"He was under cover!" Neal replied.

"And that little girl that stole his socks," Diana added.

"She was a witness I am not responsible for that!" Neal answered.

Hotch ignored their banter though they reminded him of his team. He could imagine it was Reid, Morgan, and Prentiss bickering back and forth. Hotch set his go-bag under his desk and set his briefcase down. He pulled the box over to him and opened it.

He pulled out several picture frames of the team together. Hotch put them on his desk. He also found a photo album full of pictures. Hotch flipped through him and was pretty sure some of them were surveillance and photos found in evidence. There were shots on the plane of team members sleeping, working, their dinners together, and Hotch even found a few shots of Gideon. Hotch smiled and chose a desk drawer.

He put the book in it and all the little trinkets she put in the box. Toys and figures that made him smile. At the bottom of the box was a photo frame. In it was his BAU credentials along with a group shot of them all.

"Garcia!" Hotch shook his head, wondering how she got a hold of his credentials, they weren't even void stamped. He set the frame in the drawer too and shut it.

Neal watched him but when Hotch was done, so was his entertainment. He looked back towards Diana and Jones.

"Bored!" Neal said again. Jones groaned and looked at Neal.

"Caffery, you see that stack of blue folders on your desk? Those are case files, they contain information of cases that need to be solved, start solving," Jones told him. Neal glared at the stack of files, he had already looked through them.

"You're no fun," Neal said and went back to tapping his pen on his face. Hotch looked over at the stack of files and got up. He walked over to him and looked to Neal.

"May I?" Hotch asked. Neal shrugged.

"Go ahead, knock yourself out," Neal smiled and Hotch took them back to his desk.

It was all so weird and boring as hell. No crime scene photos as the crime scenes were mostly in cyberspace, no methodology, no dump sights, and there was barely enough victimology to go off of. Hotch knew he couldn't approach this like a profiler. He was a fish out of water.


	3. Chapter 3

Jack quietly got into the car. Haley smiled at him as she helped him with his seat belt.

"Did you have fun at school today buddy?" Haley asked. Jack didn't say anything and shrugged.

"Is Daddy home yet?" Jack asked.

"Nope he'll be home in time for supper," Haley smiled as she began to drive them home.

"Like he did in D.C.?" Jack asked. Haley looked down to him with an eyebrow raised.

"Yes but now he won't spend nights away for work or come home late. He'll always be home for supper," Haley smiled.

"Is Daddy still a hero even though he doesn't fight bad guys anymore?" Jack asked. Haley glanced down to him again.

"Of course, he's still an FBI agent, the bad guys he finds now aren't as dangerous and mean," Haley tried to explain.

"So Daddy's not strong enough to go after the really bad ones anymore?" Jack asked.

"No, Your Daddy's still strong," Haley said, she was really surprised by those questions.

"Then why did he have to stop? Why did we have to move here?" Jack asked. Haley took a deep breath and glared forward at the traffic.

"You'll understand when you're older that this is better Jack. Now do not mention it again you understand me!?" Haley said. Jack sighed and looked out the window.

"Yes Ma'am," He replied.

* * *

Hotch gathered his brief case and was about to head out the door. The phone rang and Hotch reached out to it and pulled the receiver to his ear.

"Hello?" He questioned, not sure who would call him on his first day.

"Hotch!" It was Morgan.

"Morgan? How did you get this number?" Hotch asked and hung his head as soon as he said it.

"Garcia," They both said in unison.

"I knew the answer to that before I even finished the question. What's up?" Hotch asked.

"Hotch, I'm going to kill Rossi," It was Morgan. Hotch smiled and set his suitcase down.

"What happened?" Hotch asked.

Hotch listened to Morgan rant with a smile on his face.

"You're just going to have to stand your ground with him, you stand up to him and he'll respect you for it. Make sure he knows things are different now, it's going to a little getting used to getting into the team mindset. He was out there profiling by himself before. He didn't have a team," Hotch tried to explain.

Peter paused by Hotch's desk on the way out.

"Hang on," Hotch told Morgan and looked to Peter.

"I know nothing exciting happened today but tomorrow we are setting up surveillance on a suspect, be here at 7 on the dot and Jones and Dianna will take you along with them," Peter told Hotch. Hotch nodded.

"Yay, make him sit in the van!" Neal smiled from his seat. Peter looked over to Neal.

"Just for that you're going too and you're bringing coffee!" Peter told him.

"I thought the new guy brings coffee!" Neal protested.

"New guy didn't dis the van," Peter replied as he started walking to the door. Neal hung his head.

"Good night guys!" Peter said as he went through the door. Hotch looked over to Neal.

"I'll bring donuts," Hotch offered. Neal pointed to him and smiled.

"That works, I will see you all in the morning," Neal smiled and gathering his things to leave for the day.

Hotch bid him farewell and turned his attention back on Morgan.

"Is everyone leaving for the day?" Morgan asked.

"Yeah," Hotch answered him.

"I bet Hailey loves that, I just had dinner and am settling down into a hotel room," Morgan replied.

"I'm sure she does, where are you?" Hotch asked.

"Buffalo," Morgan answered.

"That was a short flight," Hotch replied.

"Yeah well, I just wanted to rant about Rossi. I'll let you get home before you're late for dinner," Morgan replied.

"Right…Any time Morgan, be careful out there," Hotch said.

"You too Hotch," Morgan said and hung up. Hotch put the receiver back on the hook and sighed. He pulled himself to his feet and gathered everything back up.

* * *

Neal entered his apartment and found Mozzie lounging with his feet up on his table and a glass of wine in one hand.

"Good evening," Mozzie said.

"Hey Mozz," Neal said and tossed his bag on the couch.

"What's new in the land of the suits?" Mozzie asked.

"We have a new suit," Neal said as he took off his jacket and laid it on the back of the closest chair.

"Really we have Suit, Pants Suit, Black Suit, and…?" Mozzie trailed off.

"Profiler Suit," Neal replied.

"Profiler suit?" Mozzie asked.

"He just transferred in from the behavioral analysis unit," Neal nodded.

"Oh…that's not good," Mozzie said. Neal poured himself a glass of the wine Mozzie had opened.

"Why is that?" Neal asked.

"Think about it, Profilers are trained to read every aspect of human behavior, some could pass for psychic because they are that good. It's already hard enough to pull things off around Peter but this guy…try lying around this guy he's going to know the second you walk in the door," Mozzie replied. Neal thought about that.

"He did call me on a few things this morning…" Neal trailed off.

"Like what?" Mozzie asked.

"Well I was picking on him and tried to lift his watch and he caught me, then he knew I didn't pay for my suit," Neal said.

"How long did you talk?" Mozzie asked.

"We had only said Hello," Neal said.

"You see! He walked in and read you! Until we get rid of him I will be getting nowhere near this man," Mozzie said and took a sip of wine.

"Get rid of him?" Neal asked.

"Seriously Neal, feed him a story and see how quick before he calls you on it," Mozzie said.

"Alright, for the sake of future cons we have to get rid of Agent Hotchner," Neal conceded.

They were quiet for a minute as they both thought about what to do.

"Well if it helps I don't think he transferred in because he wanted to. He misses his old team already. He has pictures of them on his desk and he was talking to one of them when I left today," Neal said.

"That's good, may be easy to get him to go back. We just have to push his homesickness over the edge. What's his name? We need to know more about him," Mozzie replied.

"Aaron Hotchner,"

* * *

"Aaron Hotchner," Peter said as he helped Elizabeth cook dinner.

"He's my age and from what I hear there was a lot of pressure from his section chief to transfer. Rumor is she wanted him out of the picture because he would climb up the chain of command too quickly," Peter explained what he had heard around the water cooler. He picked a piece of meat from the pan and slipped it to Satchmo.

"They can make you transfer for that?" Elizabeth asked as she prepared the sides.

"Well he could have stayed but then he would have been passed over for any future promotions but I would do it if it meant I could stay with my team and do what I love." Peter replied. Elizabeth looked at him.

"Are you sure he loved it?" Elizabeth asked.

"Oh, El you should have seen it. He just walked into the office and it was like he knew Neal. He actually made Neal speechless , it was amazing. Why would he be that good if it's not something he loves?" Peter asked. Elizabeth smiled at him.

"I bet I could get you to leave the white collar division if I wanted to," Elizabeth said as she got close to him and kissed him.

"Oh, so you think his wife made him leave…interesting," Peter said and kissed Elizabeth back.

"El…" Peter said.

"Yes?" Elizabeth asked.

"Please don't ever make me leave White Collar," Peter asked. Elizabeth laughed.

"I would never ask you to leave White Collar, you would be lost without Neal," Elizabeth said.

"Oh!" Peter balked and leaned away from her.

"Oh, that's not…that's it no more sugar for you. Satchmo, Moms not being nice!" Peter pouted and Elizabeth laughed.

"I'm eating on the porch," Peter replied and started to walked towards the back door. Elizabeth grabbed his belt and pulled him back to her.

"I'm sorry hun," Elizabeth replied. Peter looked down at her and sighed. He looked to Satchmo.

"She did say hun," He said to the dog.

"I did," Elizabeth smiled.

"Ok, you're forgiven hun," Peter said and kissed her again.

"You should invite Agent Hotchner and Jones, and Dianna, and even Neal, all over for dinner as a welcome to the team get together. That and I want to meet anyone who's supposed to help bring you home safely. Tell him to bring his wife and Dianna to bring hers. Jones and Neal can bring dates too- I should invite Mozzie," Elizabeth said, getting excited about her own idea.

"Mozzie and that many suits in one room?" Peter asked. Elizabeth shook her head.

"You're right well anyway, invite the others, tomorrow night's good." Elizabeth said and got glasses down out of the cabinet.

"Ok, tomorrow night it is, though it may be a little short notice," Peter said.

"Well if they can't make it tomorrow just let me know when they can make it," Elizabeth shrugged as she began putting their food onto plates.

"Alright, will do," Peter said and helped her get everything to the table.

* * *

Aaron walked into the house and set his briefcase by the door. The house was a mess of boxes still.

"Daddy's home!" Jack called from the living room where he was doing homework.

"Hey, buddy!" Hotch put on a smile and wrapped his son up in his arms when the child ran to him.

"What's for supper?" Hotch asked. Jacks smile faded.

"I don't know, Moms mad at me," Jack said.

"Oh I doubt that, your mother could never be mad at you. Finish up your homework I'm sure supper is almost ready," Hotch said and kissed Jack before setting him back down. Jack nodded and ran back for the living room.

Hotch came into the kitchen and found Haley chopping vegetables.

"Jack thinks you're mad at him," Hotch said with a laugh in his voice as he got into the fridge to get a drink. He then stepped up behind Haley and leaned in to kiss her. Haley didn't turn to him and all Hotch got was cheek.

"What's wrong?" Aaron asked.

"What have you been telling Jack?" Haley asked, not looking up from the vegetables.

"What do you mean?" Aaron asked, leaning against the counter next to her.

"He was asking all sorts of questions when I picked him up from school," Haley said. Hotch's mind went into profiler mode and became that much more concerned about his son.

"What kind of questions?" Aaron asked.

"Just…questions. You have told him you are happy here right?" Haley asked.

"Maybe not in those exact words…" Hotch trailed off. Haley stopped and looked up to him.

"You are happy here right?" She asked.

"…" Hotch didn't really know which direct to go. This would be easier if she were a serial killer.

"Aaron?" Haley asked. Hotch shrugged.

"Sure," Hotch answered.

"That's not a yes," Haley retorted.

"Then, yes," Hotch said.

"Aaron! I thought we agreed this was better for all of us!" Haley raised her voice at her husband in frustration. Hotch hung his head and took a breath before answering her.

"We did and we're here. How am I supposed to control the questions Jack asks?" Aaron asked, trying his hardest to keep his voice down so Jack didn't hear in the living room.

"He can tell you aren't happy Aaron!" Haley said and roughly set the knife on the counter.

"Haley it's going to take me time to adjust to this lifestyle. I've been cut off from my family and I'm in a completely different job field. Everything I was trained to do, the way I was trained to think, everything I know is now all wrong! Forgive me if I'm a little homesick and I will try to be cheerful around Jack," Hotch replied.

"Team," Haley said plainly.

"I'm sorry?" Hotch asked.

"You said you were cut off from you family. They are not your family they _were_ your team," Haley corrected him. Hotch tried but he couldn't catch himself on that one.

"I risked my life with these people for years, never once questioning the fact that they had my back and I had theirs! And you're getting mad at me for missing them? For feeling on edge when they're not there anymore? It's just going to take me some time to trust and attach myself to my new team and all I'm asking right now is a little patience," Hotch tried to explain to her. Haley's mouth dropped and she stepped back from him.

"I'm not exactly near to any of my friends and family here either!" Haley snapped.

"Ok, Haley I'm sorry. It won't happen again," Hotch said and had to leave the kitchen.

"Aaron-," Haley turned to watch him go and tried to reach out to him.

Hotch went into the living room and sat on the couch behind Jack.

"Almost done Daddy," Jack said. Hotch smiled down to him.

"Take your time buddy," Hotch said and took a deep breath.


End file.
